NASHVILLE – Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said overconfident Tennessee Republican legislative leaders who have begun their redistricting plans before the first vote has been cast in this fall’s general election are making a “huge mistake.”

“Tennessee voters don’t like being taken for granted,” Forrester said of news reports concerning Tennessee Republicans’ plan for redistricting after the mid-term election in November. “Concocting their plans behind closed doors is a huge mistake that will likely come back to haunt them on Nov. 3. They are putting the cart before the horse.

“Tennessee Democrats, meanwhile, have kept this state on sound financial footing at a time when other states are struggling with huge debts and massive layoffs. Most people will not vote against their own self interests.”

After each 10-year Census, congressional and legislative districts are redrawn. Republicans have boasted they will gain seats in Congress and in state legislatures across the nation, thereby controlling the redistricting process.

Forrester pointed out, however, that Tennessee Democrats have an opportunity to regain control of the General Assembly’s House chamber with only two additional pick-ups.

“We have a unified message that will focus on job creation, educational opportunities for our children and building on the economic development successes of Gov. Phil Bredesen,” Forrester said of the party’s slate of highly qualified candidates. “Our state’s Democratic congressional and legislative leaders work tirelessly to put people to work, grow our economy and make Tennessee a better place to live and raise our families.

“Republicans like to attack Democrats on the economy, but we should all remember it is the failed policies of the past Republican White House that got us here. Tennessee Republicans want to run on a national agenda, but Tennessee voters cast their ballots for candidates who address local issues and concerns affecting their own communities,” he added.

Highlights of Tennessee Job Creation by Democrats

In the last seven years, we have seen the creation of 190,505 new jobs, $33 billion in capital investment and more than 50 corporate headquarter locations in Tennessee.

In the last year, we’ve been called the nation’s most competitive state for business, the second-best for business climate and the most improved state for development.

In just one year, Tennessee landed more than $4 billion dollars in new investments from Volkswagen Group of America, Hemlock Semiconductor, Wacker Chemical and Nissan, creating more than 3,000 new jobs. Many of those jobs were created in the “green energy” industry.